Malaga for FSX - long overdue!

[PatrickZ 300]

Exactly right!

It only seems like companies like SimWings are less active than they used to be. I think they're even more active, but this does not lead to more sceneries. It leads to better sceneries.

Of course you could still develop an airport in a few months, but that would mean accepting a lower quality. A quality that would have been acceptable 10 years ago, but not today. At least, not if Aerosoft is to publish it.

Back to Malaga, I remember there was a threat about it somewhere on the forum (I can't find it right now, but I know it's there). Malaga is in development, but very slowly since other projects got a higher priority. Like for example Heathrow and the Canary Islands, that Simwings is both working on (Malaga is being done by Simwings as well, just like 10 years ago). Once those projects are finished they may return to Malaga, but it's up to them to decide that.

PS Malaga is not the only Spanish mainland airport that is being waited for. Personally I got Girona high on my wishlist, but there isn't a single FSX scenery for it. Not even freeware. Until recently there wasn't even an Afcad. But who knows Simwings will make another Spanish Airports series just like they did 10 years ago. At least I hope they will.

[Ray Proudfoot 231]

Thanks for the link Oliver. I can understand Heathrow will attract a lot of customers and SimWings must have decided they could make a decent profit from it but with another quality developer having already released it I found it an odd decision. It's the only major airport I can think of that has been released by two publishers. And of course it makes it harder for you having to provide AES for both versions.

Yes, higher quality is demanded but that is also reflected in the prices which seem to be rising far faster than incomes. SimFlation! Everything is getting expensive for FS. I suppose publishers have worked out that if someone can afford a top PC they can afford inflated prices. A worrying trend but at least we have Black Friday sales when there are bargains galore!

[OPabst 2091]

And of course it makes it harder for you having to provide AES for both versions.

For me they are two different airports with the same name and of course not the only one, look in the AES list, we have more then one Airport done twice.

Yes, higher quality is demanded but that is also reflected in the prices which seem to be rising far faster than incomes. SimFlation! Everything is getting expensive for FS. I suppose publishers have worked out that if someone can afford a top PC they can afford inflated prices. A worrying trend but at least we have Black Friday sales when there are bargains galore!

Yes, your point of view, I also ask my self, why the money I get from Aerosoft for my AES sales gone faster and faster before the end of the month, even when I worked as long as before for it . I should think about to increase the price for AES too after 7 years

[Patrick1246 353]

with more features?

[KLM737 128]

Let´s approach this from the developers point of view.

There are roughly 2 types of scenery developers:

- Full-time professional content creators:
They are often trained 3D & texture artists, sometimes crossed over from game design. Aerosoft has a team of people. FSDreamTeam and Orbx are other examples. They will work on a project because it is their job and are assigned a certain task. They receive a steady paycheck but because the 3rd party business for flight simulator is relatively small, it can only 'support' a small number of full-time content creators. These project are often professionally used in airline Level-D simulators and the flight simulator community is only a small part of the revenue and profit (Zürich 2012, several German scenery's come to mind and the larger Orbx airports).

- Par-time hobbyist:

By far the largest group of active developers, do this as a hobby in their spare time and are self taught. They choose their own project and are often very dedicated to it (e.g. home airport). If it reaches a certain quality benchmark, it can be published as paywaye, but they do not get rich: a project is a success if the production costs are covered by the sales. This group is very dedicated, community oriented and driven by their own passion for simulation or aviation. However, these project can take a long time due to time constraints and a lot of commitment is required.
Examples: Emilios (Live in FSX), Lars (29Palms), Jo Erland (Norway scenery's) and many many more.

One can even identify a third group which has started to emerge very recently: professional 3D & texture artist who work in the gaming industry commit to a flight simulation project in their spare time, using their skills to set new standards in our niche market. Examples are the guy behind the A-Flight Helsinki scenery and Amir from FlightBeam.

The above also applies to aircraft addons, to a certain degree.

Keep in mind that 'we, the customers' can't really 'demand' anything: the community is too small for that. We have be satisfied by what we get from the awesome developers that continue to do magnificent things.

I hope this clarifies our extraordinary little community for you.

EDIT:
I also don't like seeing airports made twice as it is a waste of valuable development resources. But there are other factors at play here. The Heathrow project by SimWings is probably supported by professional contracts for use by airlines, so the community is only a small part of the motivation to do this airport.

It also encourages competition and innovation among developers. FSDreamTeam was rather surprised by Aerosoft's Zürich project and they decided to revamp their product because of it. This resulted in more choice and better products for us, the average simmers.
But it can kill projects as well. Tery from Eiresim decided to cancel his Dublin scenery after Aerosoft previewed their's, which is also fine...

[Ray Proudfoot 231]

For me they are two different airports with the same name and of course not the only one, look in the AES list, we have more then one Airport done twice.

Yes, your point of view, I also ask my self, why the money I get from Aerosoft for my AES sales gone faster and faster before the end of the month, even when I worked as long as before for it . I should think about to increase the price for AES too after 7 years

As a customer of AES I should know that. Rome being a classic example.

You must be spending it too quickly Oliver! I hadn't appreciated the price hasn't risen in 7 years. But of course that's in Euros and for us Brits the exchange rate is worse now than 2007. We're all victims of the Euro.

[Cheyenne Chief Pilot 829]

Just to offer a different point of view:

Most of the time developers have had better ideas about which airports to do than I have. Their developments have been inspiring to me by making me do a lot of flights I'd never thought of myself. Just a few examples:

• many airports done by LatinVFR, situated in mountainous areas, with demanding arrivals and approaches
• freeware developed by dedicated individuals, for their home countries maybe, which I hardly know anything about (comp. brand new Damascus and the older Latakia Airport in Syria)
• TropicalSim did LEBB; very much attention to detail, a good deal of photoreal coverage and scenic and/or demanding approaches, depending on which direction you're gonna land!
• an amazing rendition of LYTV, many details, a joy and a challenge to fly
• even more idyllic places in the Caribbean, previously unknown to me

Actually I'm glad developers have been doing their airports instead of picking up my suggestions: I may be disappointed as far as certain destinations are concerned, but on balance I'm better off the way things have been going ...

Just my 0.02 (Euro cents, admittingly ).